How to Join a Sons Of The Forest Server

Last modified on Sep 11, 2023 in Sons Of The Forest

By Nathan Young

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Overview

Starting up a dedicated Sons Of The Forest server allows you to play with friends in a survival horror world. Before enjoying this experience, players need to join and load into the game. This process isn’t user friendly, as connecting requires you to filter through all the other SOTF servers. In other words, there’s no direct way to accomplish this task while in the main menu. This can be frustrating for some, but you and other players alike can start this grand adventure once connected. With this in mind, we’ve created this Apex Hosting guide to show you how to join a Sons Of The Forest server so you can play with friends.

Getting Started

Due to the design of Sons Of The Forest, you’ll need to set up a server name before joining it. This is easily done on our panel, as it’s simplified for your convenience. Once you’ve configured this, the subsection below describes the process to make the connection. When you’re ready to kickstart your SOTF journey, follow along below to get started.

1. Head towards your Apex server panel, then click Customizations near the top left.
   
2. Locate the Server Name option, then edit its field to anything you want.
   
3. Afterward, return to the main panel and Restart the server to apply this change.

Joining the Sons of the Forest Server

After setting up your server’s name, make sure to remember it for the connection process. This is important, as you’ll be searching for it in-game through their filter system. Once you’ve gotten familiar with it, joining your server will be a piece of cake. Whenever you’re ready, follow the steps below to make the connection. After you’ve joined the server, you’ll have a wonderful time exploring the horrid forests and fighting off demonic creatures with friends.

1. Launch Sons Of The Forest on Steam, then wait for it to start up.
2. While in the main menu, click Multiplayer and the Join option.
   
3. Afterward, change Source to Dedicated and type your Server Name in the Filter field.
   
4. On the right-hand side, locate your server and press the Join button.
   
5. If successful, you’ll be greeted with the “Game is Starting” message.
   
6. Wait for this to completely finish, then begin enjoying your SOTF server with friends.

Common Issues

One of the most common issues to encounter is being unable to find your SOTF server in the list. This can happen for a wide variety of reasons, with the wrong Source type being the main one. Remember, this must be set to Dedicated before searching begins. Once you’ve corrected this mistake, proceed to enter your Server Name in the Filter field. If this doesn’t work, then double check you’ve successfully configured the name in Customizations on the panel. In cases where this matches, then try pressing the Refresh button at the bottom right corner of your screen. This should make your server appear in the list for you to make the connection. If the situation persists regardless of your attempts, then consider restarting from the panel to see if that’ll make it show up for you to join.

Occasionally, players may be unable to join the server even after it appears in the dedicated list. Solving this may involve them restarting their game or entering a password if one was configured. For instance, a lock symbol on the server signifies that it’s protected. In this situation, the player wanting to join must type the Password that matches from the Customizations area in the panel. However, the server could be rejecting connections if it’s offline or actively starting up. Make sure to wait for everything to load, then redo the joining process. However, if some players were able to make this connection, then it’s likely a client-sided issue. In this case, restart Sons Of The Forest on Steam and try again. Otherwise, verifying the game files in the Installed Files from Properties is another option to solve the issue.

If you’re used to joining servers on Steam and tried using the Game Server feature, then it may have failed. Recently, there’s been an on-going bug on the platform preventing players from making connections. It’s possible that in the future this can be resolved but for the time being it’s best to use the in-game filtering to join the Sons Of The Forest server. This may be a hassle but becomes straightforward after familiarizing yourself with the dedicated list. Remember the server’s name and password if one is configured to make a successful connection.

Useful Links

Sons Of The Forest Server Hosting
Information & Release for Sons Of The Forest
The AI System in Sons Of The Forest
Sons Of The Forest vs The Forest
Sons Of The Forest Guides